Charge coupled device imagers are disclosed in Sequin et al., Charge Transfer Devices, Academic Press, New York, 1975 at pages 142-200. Such devices include time delay and integration (TDI) charge coupled device (CCD) imagers of the type disclosed by Erb et al., "Buried Channel Charge Coupled Devices For Infrared Applications", CCD Applications Conference, Proceedings, Sept. 18-20, 1973, San Diego, CA, pages 157-167 and in U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 194,204 filed Oct. 6, 1980 by Michael Y. Pines et al., entitled "Charge Coupled Device Automatic Responsivity Control Circuit" and assigned to the assignee of the present application. The foregoing disclosures by Sequin, Erb and Pines are incorporated herein by reference.
One problem with charge coupled device imagers is that any focal zoom magnification function must be provided by using typical zoom optics of the type found in prior art cameras. This is particularly disadvantageous given the awkwardness of such optical devices and given the present goal in the art of miniaturizing charge coupled device imagers and reducing their weight and cost.